ular--oblast);
Burgas, Grad Sofiya, Khaskovo, Lovech, Mikhaylovgrad, Plovdiv, Razgrad,
Sofiya, Varna

_#_Independence: 22 September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)

_#_Constitution: 16 May 1971, effective 18 May 1971; a new
constitution is likely to be adopted in 1991

_#_Legal system: based on civil law system, with Soviet law influence;
judicial review of legislative acts in the State Council; has accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

_#_National holiday: Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire,
3 March (1878)

_#_Executive branch: president, chairman of the Council of Ministers
(premier), three deputy chairmen of the Council of Ministers,
Council of Ministers

_#_Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Narodno
Sobranie)

_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court

_#_Leaders:

Chief of State--President Zhelyu ZHELEV (since 1 August 1990);

Head of Government--Chairman of the Council of Ministers
(Premier) Dimitur POPOV (since 19 December 1990);
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Aleksandur TOMOV
(since 19 December 1990);
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Viktor VULKOV (since
19 December 1990);
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Dimitur LUDZHEV
(since 19 December 1990);

_#_Political parties and leaders: government--Bulgarian
Socialist Party (BSP), formerly Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP),
Aleksandur LILOV, chairman;

opposition--Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), Filip DIMITROV,
chairman, consisting of Nikola Petkov Bulgarian Agrarian National
Union, Milan DRENCHEV, secretary of Permanent Board;
Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, Petur DERTLIEV;
Green Party;
Christian Democrats;
Radical Democratic Party;
Rights and Freedoms Movement (pro-Muslim party), Ahmed DOGAN;
Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (BZNS), Viktor VULKOV

_#_Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18

_#_Elections:

Chairman of the State Council--last held 1 August 1990
(next to be held May 1991);
results--Zhelyo ZHELEV was elected by the National Assembly;

National Assembly--last held 10 and 17 June 1990 (next to be held
in autumn 1991);
results--BSP 48%, UDF 32%;
seats--(400 total) BSP 211, UDF 144, Rights and Freedoms Movement
23, Agrarian Party 16, Nationalist parties 3, independents and other 3

_#_Communists: Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), formerly
Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP), 501,793 members

_#_Other political or pressure groups: Ecoglasnost; Podkr